The Charge

The overwhelming drama of a strange vengeance.

Opening Statement

"He was some kind of a man. What does it matter what you say about
people?"

Facts of the Case

Our story begins with a car bomb, which was placed in the trunk of a car in
Mexico and exploded just after the car crossed the border into the United
States. This makes the investigation a bit complicated, forcing Mexican
government official Miguel Vargas (Charlton Heston, Planet of the Apes) to join forces with
American police captain Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles, Citizen Kane). Unfortunately, Quinlan
and Vargas have very different ideas about how to go about conducting the
investigation and which methods are acceptable. The tension between the two
builds over time, and before long Vargas begins to suspect that Quinlan is
corrupt and dangerous. Meanwhile, Vargas' wife Susie (Janet Leigh, Psycho) quickly begins to
realize that her own life may well be in danger.

The Evidence

Orson Welles wasn't supposed to direct Touch of Evil. He was hired to
play the villain in the film, but he had helmed too many commercial failures to
be permitted to step into the director's chair again. Fortunately, Charlton
Heston suggested that Universal might want to consider letting Welles direct,
and the studio agreed in order to keep their prized star happy. Welles eagerly
accepted the opportunity (despite the fact that the studio told him they would
only pay his acting fee), re-writing the script and turning a standard studio
thriller into something unique. Alas, the actor/writer/director didn't stick
around for all of the post-production process, wandering off to Mexico while the
studio re-shot certain sequences and put together a clumsily-edited version of
the movie. After seeing the cut, Welles sent the studio a legendary 58-page memo
detailing the changes which should be made. The studio had no interest in going
to the trouble.

In the mid-1970s, the studio discovered a 108-minute version of the movie in
its archives and assumed that it was the "complete" version of the film.
However, this version actually featured an even greater amount of the studio
reshoots and made the plot even more muddled and confusing than it was to begin
with. In 1998, the closest approximation of Welles' vision was finally realized
when Walter Murch was tasked with restoring the film based on Welles' notes. The
result is a fascinating, rewarding crime thriller which is easily superior to
the earlier cuts and makes a strong argument for the idea that Welles really had
created something great.

Heston and Leigh are ostensibly the film's leads, but it doesn't take long
to realize that Captain Quinlan really forms the heart of the movie. Though
Welles was getting a bit heavy at the time, he wasn't nearly as overweight as he
appears in the film—he gave himself prosthetic jowls and a great deal of
padding in order to make himself look incredibly obese. Though Quinlan is a
grubby, unsympathetic character in many ways, there's nonetheless a considerable
amount of pathos in seeing the once-dashing Welles playing this gigantic wreck
of a man. Welles is completely riveting every moment he's onscreen, grunting and
huffing his way through cynical monologues with theatrical precision. Heston and
Leigh are both good, but Welles is operating on a whole different level. The
only performer in the film to match him is Marlene Dietrich, who makes a big
impression in a handful of key scenes as Welles' old flame.

Welles reportedly disliked directors who attempting to show off, but his
work is certainly on the dynamic, flashy side. Aside from the famed opening
tracking shot (which is a brilliant piece of filmmaking), Welles employs
striking camera angles and makes terrific use of shadows on a regular basis. A
fight scene involving Welles and a doomed supporting player battling it out
while Janet Leigh sleeps on a nearby bed is a masterful piece of tense, dynamic
action. Henry Mancini's score is cleverly utilized throughout the film, often
appearing on radios or player pianos rather than simply being used as
underscore. More often than note, the characters are hearing their own theme
music as they wander through the plot (which is certainly a bit complicated, but
not incomprehensible).

Touch of Evil (Blu-ray) sports a solid 1080p/1.85:1 transfer which
looks terrific under the circumstances. All three cuts of the film have been
included, and certain portions of the two later cuts feature a few scenes which
suffer from some prominent damage—these were evidently beyond repair. Even
so, the damage isn't significant enough to really distract from the film, and
the rest of the scenes look terrific: sharp, deep and crisp. The DTS HD 2.0 Mono
track is solid on all three versions, though Henry Mancini's score plays a less
prominent role in the reconstructed version (and is more effective in that
context, honestly) than it does in the other two. Dialogue is clean and clear
throughout.

Bonus features from the previous DVD release are recycled here. You get no
less than four audio commentaries: one with Heston, Leigh and producer Rick
Schmidlin on the reconstructed version, one solo track from Schmidlin on the
same version, one with historian F.X. Sweeney on the theatrical version and one
with critics Jonathan Rosenbaum and James Naremore on the '70s version. On top
of that, you get two worthwhile featurettes ("Bringing Evil to Life" and "Evil
Lost and Found"), a theatrical trailer and a booklet featuring a reprint of the
58-page memo Welles sent the studio. The only frustrating thing: if you want to
watch the special features, you have to access them from the pop-up menu, as the
main menu only permits you to select the version of the film you want to
watch.

Closing Statement

Touch of Evil is a riveting flick from a great director keen to prove
he could still deliver a slick Hollywood production. As with so many of Welles'
post-Citizen Kane flicks, it's a
bit messy and the true "director's cut" is forever lost, but the reconstructed
version feels more or less complete and satisfying. The Blu-ray is exceptional,
too. Highly recommended.